head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs deepchat
OpenClaw has 389,982 GitHub stars, 81,978 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped yesterday. deepchat has 6,328 stars, 734 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 6,063% (389,982 vs 6,328 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; deepchat is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, deepchat 12%. OpenClaw was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| OpenClaw | deepchat | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 390K | ★ 6.3K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 82K | ⑂ 734 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenClaw if
- You weight community size — 390K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick deepchat if
- You want the deepchat feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and deepchat fits your workflow better
About OpenClaw
OpenClaw is an open source, self hosted AI assistant in the AI & Machine Learning / AI Interaction & Interfaces category that runs on hardware the user controls and meets them inside the messaging channels they already use, for individuals who want a personal assistant on a laptop and teams that want a shared deployment.
read the full OpenClaw overview →
About deepchat
DeepChat is an open source, local first AI agent desktop client built with TypeScript under the Apache 2.0 license. It lives in the AI interaction and interfaces ecosystem, distributed as a cross platform Electron application, and it gathers models, tools, Skills, agent runtimes, Tape, and long running sessions into a single desktop app. Cloud APIs such as OpenAI, Gemini, and Anthropic work alongside locally deployed Ollama models, and any provider exposing an OpenAI, Gemini, or Anthropic API format can be connected.
read the full deepchat overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or deepchat more popular?
OpenClaw has 389,982 GitHub stars and deepchat has 6,328. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and deepchat free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw has no licence declared in this registry, and deepchat is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and deepchat?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and deepchat in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, OpenClaw or deepchat?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (389,982 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose deepchat if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.